Stereotactic neurosurgical biopsy is an underutilized modality

The objective of this study was to ascertain if stereotactic neurosurgical biopsy (SNB) optimizes the therapy of undefined CNS masses. The design was of retrospective treatment and outcome analysis and the setting was a large general hospital. We studied a total of 141 patients with undefined, space-occupying CNS lesions detected between 1991-1997, with whom we used SNB to define the lesions. We sought to correlate empiric and histological diagnostics and their impact on medical management. The stereotactic biopsy produced a diagnostic yield for each patient. Management was altered in 57 cases (40%) due to histology and, of these, malignancy was found in 39. Morbidity was ten asymptomatic hemorrhages on post-biopsy CT scans and two cases of clinical deterioration. Our conclusions were that SNB produces high yield with low morbidity. In the community setting, a wide variety of diagnoses can be made with improvements in medical management. SNB should be employed to guide therapy of CNS lesions where complete excision is not possible or when diagnostic questions arise.